Kaelen simply nodded.
That single motion sent the entire room into a frenzy. Their reaction was understandable. The great chasm between the ogre generals and the mages was a simple, brutal truth: the mages had a path to the higher tiers, while the ogres believed their own power had a hard ceiling. This was why they had swallowed their pride and become servants to a race they once saw as their equals.
The one exception to this rule was Kaelen, their king, who had found a way to the sixth tier. A stage so powerful it made the mages see him as their equal. He commanded enough influence to give them orders. Now, after all this time, after his fall from grace, Kaelen was offering this power to them.
An unsaid question hung in the air, a silent plea from every ogre in the room: "What has changed?"
"What has changed," he began, his voice dropping to a low, intimate tone, "is that I have seen the true face of power. I learned a truth the mages will never understand."
